Saturday, June 18, 2011

Other than joking about the fact that I can't see more than three inches in front of my face before things turn blurry and how that will relate to Big Sister E and Little Sister B needing glasses at some point, there isn't a lot of talk about our eye health around here.

But considering how extremely important our eyesight is, shouldn't it be something that we think about more often than every few years or so?

That's exactly what the basis is behind the Think About Your Eyes public awareness initiative, focusing on educating consumers about the importance of vision health and comprehensive eye exams. This nationwide messaging campaign encourages people to take better care of their eyes... and there's no better time to want to do so than with the launch of their fun Make a Spectacle of Yourself Contest!

Running now through July 10 (for US residents 18 and older), the contest is in line with the campaign's ongoing efforts to promote eye health awareness by encouraging entrants to protect their eyes with proper eyewear that blocks 100% of UV rays. Simply submit a photo showing that eyewear and four lucky winners will be chosen for a $400 Visa gift card! The winners will even be featured as profile images on the Think About Your Eyes Facebook page!

For more information about the Make a Spectacle of Yourself Contest, including official rules, visit Think About Your Eyes and click on the Contest tab.

Still not sure that vision and our eyes are that important? How about this...

According to the Vision Council of America, one in four children has a vision problem that can interfere with learning and behavior.

80% of what we learn is through our eyes, yet 85% of America’s preschoolers haven’t received a vision exam by age five.

Studies show that 60% of students identified as problem learners have undetected vision troubles.

25% of all school children in the U.S. have a vision problem significant enough to affect learning.

70% of juvenile delinquents have uncorrected vision problems.

Yikes! According to the Vision Council of America, one in four children has a vision problem that can interfere with learning and behavior. Signs include:

Dislike or avoidance of reading

Short attention span

Poor coordination when throwing or catching a ball, copying from chalkboard, or tying their shoes

Placing their head close to their books or sitting close to the TV

Excessive blinking or eye rubbing

Using finger or pencil to guide eyes

Decreasing performance in school

Suddenly joking that my kids will need glasses thanks to the poor eye genes that they have inherited isn't quite as funny.

Usually.

Sometimes these kids can still make glasses pretty darn funny.

In all seriousness, more than 11 million Americans have an uncorrected vision problem that can impact their quality of life – and in some cases, lead to more serious eye conditions. Most people consider vision their most important sense, yet less than 50% of Americans get eye exams more frequently than every two years.

Think About Your Eyes makes it easy to get a checkup, as their eye doctor locator tool means you can find an eye doctor near you (no matter where you are) to schedule an exam. You can even have a free email or text reminder to visit your eye doctor yearly sent to you so that you won't forget!

Extra Entries (available after the mandatory entry above is completed; please leave a separate comment for each entry in order for them to be counted).1 Extra Entry if you Like Think About Your Eyes on Facebook. 1 More Extra Entry if you leave the following message on their wall: The Make a Spectacle of Yourself Contest is a unique and fun way to focus on vision health! In celebration, I entered to win a $25 Visa gift card at Thanks, Mail Carrier! http://bit.ly/jtUiCU1 Extra Entry (per giveaway entered) - Enter any (or all) of the giveaways running on Thanks, Mail Carrier for the duration of this giveaway.1 Extra Entry if you follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting the tweet below and leaving me the link. Tweet daily for an extra entry every day!

#WIN a $25 Visa GC to celebrate Think About Your Eyes' Make a Spectacle of Yourself Contest! #thxmailcarrier http://bit.ly/jtUiCU #giveaway

2 Extra Entries (per follow method) if you follow me with Google Friend Connect, subscribe to my RSS feed, subscribe to Thanks, Mail Carrier by email, become a fan on Facebook or add Thanks, Mail Carrier to your blogroll.3 Extra Entries if you put my cute button up on your blog. Please leave an address where it can be found.3 Extra Entries if you blog about this giveaway linking back to this post. Please leave an address where it can be found.Giveaway will end on July 8th at 11:59pm CST. Do me the favor of leaving an email address or making absolutely sure it is visible in your profile, I have to have a way to contact the winner. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to contact me or respond to notification or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.

A big thank you to Think About Your Eyes for providing a $25 Visa gift card for me as well as for one lucky giveaway winner. The opinions shared are my own and honest and if you really need to see more, click here to see how I roll.

I think it's interesting that 85% of America’s preschoolers haven’t received a vision exam by age five. I know my pediatrician does vision exams of children under age 5 and I wonder why this isn't happening across the board.

Yay, love to win gift cards like this. I'm legally blind so this sounds like a great cause for everyone because eyesight is a precious thing. barb g. diabeticsnacer(at)gmail.com Oh yeah,I learned they will send you an email reminder when it's time for your next exam which is cool.

I learned: The American Optometric Association recommends that children have a comprehensive eye exam at six months, three years and five years of age. After that your child should have a comprehensive annual eye exam (or every two years, if no vision correction is required).